The Book of Apophis
by KolaByNikola
Summary: Khepri has been trusted with the Book of Apophis and sent to Domino to keep out of the hands of Kaiba Corp and the Kamenwati. Little does she know that Domino is the one place where she doesn't want to be. KisaraxSeto
1. Chapter 1: Stars Over Tokyo

The jet touched the tarmac as gently as if it were a butterfly and not several tons of steel. But the slight motion still jarred me from my reverie, and Khepri pulled the hood of the burqa back over her light blond hair. The chadri was not comfortable at all, it being the most concealing burqa, but her father had insisted that she disguise herself as much as possible. The jet itself was also a disguise: A friend of the Maatkare had loaned it to them, and if anyone had been poking around and looking for information, they would only see that one of the Ahmed family of Saudi Arabia had flown to Tokyo. No one would know that Khepri, daughter of the Maatkare and keeper of the book, was aboard. Not the Kamenwati, and not Kaiba Corp.

"I am half a world away," Khepri murmured, peering eagerly through the veil over her eyes and out the window. Egypt seemed so far away at the moment, the rolling sands of the desert lost in her mind. Instead, she saw the brilliant lights of Tokyo past the terminal, glinting against the dark of the sky. And where were the stars? She could see nothing beyond the glow of the city. Even the moon was dull by comparison.

"Miss Khepri?" Khepri turned to see Awan, her father's butler of sorts. He was less of a servant and more of a family friend, simply because of his devotion to the family over the years. Her father had sent him ahead to ready their townhome in Domino, then meet her at the airport.

"Kaede, now," she reminded him gently. "Father insisted I change my name, for safety."

Awan nodded. Khepri noted just how shiny his bald head was. "Shall we deplane now? Your bags are being transferred to the car as we speak."

Khepri nodded. "Yes, and thank you, Awan." On impulse, she stood and hugged the older man, who had devoted his life to her family. How could his loyalty ever be repaid?

He patted her head through the burqa, and then released her. "Come now, let's get you to Domino."

Domino. Her father's hometown, her new home.

"Yes," Khepri said, straightening the burqa. "I'd like to go home."


	2. Chapter 2: Kaede Ehime

**Reader's Note**: G'day ya'll, please remember to R/R, authors really appreciate it. I'll have a index of sorts on top of the next chapter so you know just what the Maatkara and such really are. Until then, enjoy!!

**Chapter Two: Kaede Ehime**

The noise could be a signal of natural disasters, impending nuclear war, or... an alarm clock buzzing.

Khepri sat up in bed, groaned, and pressed the silence button firmly. The persistent buzz lingered in her ears. Slowly, she slid out of the comfortable bed, shivering when her feet hit the cold stone floor.

Already it was her first day of school, even though she had arrived just last night. Awan had made the necessary arrangements, enrolled her and taken care of everything. Khepri showered quickly, dried her hair. She padded across the room to the nearly empty closet: inside was her school uniform, consisting of an atrociously pink jacket and blue skirt, with a blue bow at her neck and white knee socks to complete the ensemble.

Khepri pulled it on, tugging here and there at the fabric. The pink wasn't quite so bad against her skin and pale hair. The bow also brought out the blue in her eyes, she grudgingly admitted. She wore no makeup, mostly because she didn't need it. Khepri was self-assured enough to know that she was lovely enough without it.

She twirled suddenly before the mirror, her long golden hair twirling out about her, admiring her reflection. Her blue eyes sparkled, her cheeks were flushed, and the corners of her mouth turned up in a confident smile.

Awan knocked upon the door just then, and Khepri blushed as he peeked his head around the door, catching her in her moment of self-admiration.

"Kaede, you're going to be late," he admonished, smiling wryly at her.

"I'm ready.. I was just, checking myself," she replied, following him into the sitting room. He handed her a messenger bag; it was so heavy, she nearly dropped it.

"What in this blasted thing?" Khepri asked indignantly, heaving it onto her shoulder. "Bricks?"

"Books," Awan said with a chuckle before turning serious. "Which we need to talk about while we're on our way."

Awan drove the inconspicuous dark blue sedan, Khepri rode in the passenger seat. There was a pregnant pause while Awan navigated the side streets, before Khepri asked tentatively,

"So, has it been hidden?"

"Yes," Awan replied, never taking his eyes from the road. "It's in a safe beneath your futon, hidden under the floorboards. It will only open to your fingerprint or mine."

Khepri breathed a sigh of relief. "And there's no suspicions that it's been moved from Egypt?"

Awan shook his head. "None that we know of. Kaiba Corp was back at your father's office this morning, demanding the book, offering to pay any price he asked, but he refused."

"Persistent, aren't they?" Khepri remarked. "Why _does_ Kaiba Corp want the book anyway?"

"Their CEO wants to use it as a basis for a duel monster," Awan scoffed. "Ludicrous. The idea of Apophis being used as a game card... As if they had an inkling of the real power that book holds." He snorted in contempt.

Khepri merely nodded. Apep, the legendary snake monster, was no fairy tale. Long ago, Priest Seth had sealed it away in a stone tablet, just like all the other legendary monsters. But the effort had sent him to his deathbed. Her Greek and Egyptian ancestors had feared that evil forces might one day try to release Apep from his stone tablet, and so had copied the instructions for releasing and recapturing the beast into a small book, and then dedicated their lives and the lives of their descendants to keeping the book safe.

"_Awfully generous of them," _Khepri thought sourly. "_Instead of a parents that tell you the boogeyman is just a shadow, I get a whole family that knows it's real."_

"Here we are," Awan announced, cutting into her thoughts. Khepri looked out the window apprehensively. The building resembled a prison more than a high school, in Khepri's eyes. Her stomach began knotting itself up ferociously.

"Awan," she began nervously. "I've, well, I've never been to a _real_ school before."

He smiled kindly at her, but ignored the comment. "The office is just inside the main door. Your phone and breakfast, as well as lunch money are in your bag, front pocket. They'll tell you everything you need to know inside."

Khepri looked at him one last time, and opened the door reluctantly, stepping out onto the pavement.  
"Oh, and Khepri?" She turned her head around quickly. "Good luck." Khepri smiled back at Awan and shut the door.

"First day of high school, here I come," she muttered, and marched bravely toward the door.

* * *

Khepri realized she was late the moment she walked in the door: a hushed silence greeted her, not totally quiet, but a gentle ruffling that reminded her of shuffling paper and scratching pencils. As Awan had directed her, the main office was on her left as soon as she entered the doors.

A secretary looked up as soon as she opened the door. "Good morning!" she trilled with the enthusiasm of one fueled by copious amounts of coffee. "Not decaf either," Khepri muttered, pasting what she hoped was an enthusiastic smile on her face and approached the secretary's desk.

"Hello," she began, her nerves lending a tremor to her voice, "I'm Kh- _Kaede_, Kaede Ehime. I'm the new girl."

"Oh, Kaede! It's so lovely that you're joining us! That lovely uncle of yours registered you and everything," the secretary bubbled. "We've got your test scores and such, and we're truly thrilled that we have such a brilliant student joining our ranks!" Khepri remembered with a grimace the tests she had taken last week, sitting in her room at home. In Egypt. She had figured she would be lucky the accepted her at all, with the abysmal scores she figured she had gotten.

"Now," the secretary chattered on, handing Khepri a sheet of paper, "here is your schedule... If you have any problems with it, come back and we'll try to rearrange it for you. Class has already begun, but they won't mind you walking in. Advanced Biochemistry is your first lesson, room 308. Let's see. Where is that?" Khepri watched, feeling bewildered, as the secretary attempted a map that appeared more like a M C Escher sketch than a map.

"I could take her."

Khepri turned around to see the new speaker. The speaker was a tall boy of about her age, pale skinned with thick russet colored hair and blue eyes that seemed to be chips of ice. They regarded her coldly, and Khepri pulled her bag closer to her instinctively. Despite his cold eyes, he was still one of the most handsome boys she'd ever seen.

"Oh, Mr. Kaiba!" The secretary nearly jumped out of her seat, suddenly blushing like a schoolgirl. "How's the company going?"

_Kaiba? __**Company?**_ Khepri's eyes widened, and her jaw literally dropped for a second.

"Kaiba? As in Kaiba Corp Kaiba?" she asked bluntly. She couldn't be standing here face to face with the man who wanted her family's most guarded secret. It just wasn't possible.

"Who wants to know?" he asked, glaring at her.

"Oh, Mr. Kaiba, this is Miss Kaede Ehime. She's just moved here from... Oh, where are you from again, dear?"

"Um," Khepri stuttered before blurting out, "The States. I'm from, er, California."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at her hesitation, before replying, "Great. Another dumb American, just what we need."

The secretary's jaw dropped with Khepri's this time. "Pardon me?" Khepri asked, suddenly breathless with anger.

"Whatever. I'm going back to class." He threw a folder on the secretary's desk and started toward the door.

Khepri looked from his back to the secretary who has seized the folder and was rifling through the contents. Sighing, she pushed the heavy bag back and rushed toward the door, trying to catch up with Kaiba.

"Wait for me," she called. "_Please," _she added sarcastically.


	3. Chapter 3: Crunch

Chapter Three:

Khepri's anger did _not_ abate as she chased after Seto Kaiba. He was already to the end of the hall by the time she caught up with him.

"Are you always so _rude_?" she asked severely, slightly out of breath from running the length of the hall.

"Are you always so nosy?" he fired back, unruffled. He kept the same steady, long-legged pace, not even bothering to look at her.

Khepri couldn't even think of a comeback. Never had anyone treated her with anything less than respect. Even when she was a child, she had been treated like a wise elder: her family was the most prominent and most directly descended from the original priests that wrote the book and destroyed the tablet.

So they walked in silence up two flights of stairs and three doors down on the left. Kaiba pulled the door open without looking and stalked through the room. Khepri, however, wasn't afforded such a casual entry. Kaiba hadn't noticed that she was behind him on the right, and as a result, he had pushed the door open into her face. There was a distinct snap as stars blew through Khepri's eyes. Something warm tickled her upper lip.

"Sonofabitch!" she screeched without thought, clutching her nose. She opened her now streaming eyes to see a silent classroom. A blonde haired boy in the back row started laughing, and the brunette next to him smacked him upside the head. "Joey!" she hissed, and the boy quit stopped abruptly, rubbing his head and looking rather shamefaced.

Khepri's face reddened as her eyes skimmed over the room, finally landing on Kaiba. He had slid into a desk on the far side of the room, near the back. But even from there, she could see him as he arched a brow at her, as if to say, "Well, are you going to come in, or just stand there?"

The teacher, a prim woman somewhere between thirty and sixty, fixed her with a sharp look.

"I take it you are my new student?" she asked briskly.

"Yeh-Yes!" Khepri gasped. "But, um, I think I broke my nose."

"I'll take her to the nurse!" The brunette in the back chimed in, jumping out of her seat. Khepri looked helplessly from the girl to her teacher, who nodded. The girl bounded from her seat in the back to the door and before Khepri knew it, she was on her way back down the stairs.

"That Seto Kaiba!" the girl said angrily while fishing around in her purse. She pulled out a pack of tissues and handed Khepri a couple. She took them gratefully and dabbed at her nose. "He's such an arrogant toerag! I can't believe he did that... Well, I can. Oh!" she exclaimed, stopping short on the stair. Khepri paused too and looked at the girl. She had a trendy chin length bob that was shorter in the back, and bright blue eyes, set in an open and kind face.

"I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Tea, Tea Gardener." She smiled brightly. "What's your name?"

"Kaede Ehime," Khepri lied. It was getting easier, she thought, the more she got accustomed to it.

"That's such a pretty name," Tea gushed, mincing down the steps again. "And I'm terribly sorry about Joey, the boy who laughed at you. I don't think he was laughing _at _you, he's just a idiot like that sometimes."

Khepri smiled, though she feared it was more of a grimace than anything. She wondered if Tea was any relation to the secretary in the main office.

"It's fine really," she said. "I'm sure I looked rather funny." Tea simply laughed and launched a barrage of questions at her.

"Where did you move here from? And why Domino?"

"Oh... California," Khepri said, adding a nervous laugh. "Domino was my father's hometown, and I decided I'd like to come see it for myself. Get a change of scene." She knew it was a weak and transparent excuse, but Tea either overlooked it, or didn't care.

"Oh, the States! And what all classes do you have?" Tea opened the door next to the main office, and gestured Khepri inside.

"I um, don't really know," Khepri confessed as Tea followed her inside. "I didn't get a proper look at my schedule before, well..."

The nurse came bustling out of her side office then, interrupting Khepri.

"Before you broke your nose?" the nurse finished, not unkindly.

Khepri smiled ruefully and nodded.

"Well, we'll get you taken care of. Ms. Gardener, I'll take care of her from here." Tea nodded.

"Come find me at lunch," Tea called brightly as she walked out the door, and Khepri waved goodbye.

_She might be talkative, but she is a sweetheart, _Khepri thought as she sat down on the edge of the examination table.

"Alright, on three," the nurse said, snapping rubber gloves on her hands.

"Wait, what on three?" Khepri asked nervously as the nurse turned to her and planted her hands firmly on Khepri's cheeks.

"Wait, no!" Khepri panicked.

"Three."

**Note:** Hundreds of thanks to The Duelist's Heiress, she's been beta-reading for me, and she's done a fantastic job of it. Check out her stories when you get a chance! Chapter Four is coming soon :) -KbN-


	4. Chapter 4: The Sennen Puzzle

**Chapter Four:**

The nurse had cracked her nose back into place with only a small shriek from Khepri. After that, the pain had receded, and the only signs of trauma were swelling and bruising beneath her eye.

Now she was on her way to the cafeteria, armed with a bag of ice and a stern look that would hopefully quell any laughs from her fellow student body. The cafeteria doors were flung open, and as she walked toward what might be her impending doom, she caught sight of Tea's brown bob, thankfully close to the door. She was at a rather crowded table with three other boys, two across and one sitting next to her, but with a noticeable amount of space in between.

She thought she might reach the table without incident: no one noticed her as she crept through the doorway, slinking her way along the wall. Khepri was just mere feet away from the table when a hand clamped over her wrist. Khepri whirled around and ended up face to face with Seto Kaiba.

"You," she practically spat, pulling her wrist from his hand.

"I'm sorry," he said, quickly, gruffly, but an apology nonetheless.

Khepri was nonplussed. "What?"

"I'm sorry for hitting you with the door," he repeated, looking somewhere over Khepri's shoulder.

"It's um, fine. It was an accident," Khepri found herself admitting.

Kaiba forced a tight-lipped smile, nodded once, and walked away, sitting down at the far end of the cafeteria, alone. Khepri stared after him as he turned once more to his open laptop, a look of intense concentration on his face.

"Kaede!" Tea had noticed her now, and Khepri turned at the sound of her voice. Tea waved her frantically over to the table, patting the empty spot next to her. Khepri slid into it gratefully, happy to be ducked down and out of sight.

"Uh, Kaede," a blonde boy began. Khepri recognized him as the one who had laughed earlier. "I'm sorry for laughin' at you earlier." Joey grinned rather sheepishly, looking not at all sorry but still adorable with his shaggy blonde hair and his warm brown eyes.

"It's cool," Khepri said a grin, brushing the incident off.

"Yeah, Joey's just an inconsiderate pig like that sometimes," the second boy added. His brown hair was shorn much shorter than Joey's, allowing his hazel eyes to be seen clearly. "I'm Tristan, by the way," he added, charm oozing from his voice, as he leaned over the table, "And I'd love to show you around town sometime, particularly the finer restaurants and-"

"Down, boy," Tea interjected acidly, pulling his ear. Tristan yowled and Joey and the other laughed.

"And I'm Yugi," the final boy introduced himself. "Yugi Mutou."

"A pleasure," Khepri said, shaking his extended hand. As she looked him over, she noticed something that she had only read about in legend, had never seen.

"That's an interesting necklace you've got," she said casually, her heart pounding.

"Oh, um," Yugi stuttered. Tea came to his rescue.

"It's an antique," she said hurriedly. "We found it in a pawn shop, and Yugi just had to have it. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah!" Yugi added, obviously grateful for Tea's quick intervention. "I just couldn't help myself."

There was an awkward pause at the table, before Tristan, who was rubbing his still smarting ear, said brightly, "So, Kaede, tell us about yourself. Tea said you're from California?"

"Yeah," Khepri said with a forced grin, "but I wanted to see Domino for myself here. My uncle lives in town and I thought it would be a real experience to know Japan the way my father did."

The awkward silence had evaporated, and Khepri fielded questions for the rest of lunch, in between bites of her onion bread and hummus sandwich that she knew Awan had made by hand.

But Khepri wasn't focused on lunch or conversation. Her burning question was how Yugi had really come by the Sennen Puzzle, and why he was the spitting image of the legendary Pharaoh Atemu.

* * *

**KbN:** Hey everyone... I apologize, I know it was such a short chapter... But there's big stuff coming up, promise! Stay tuned in, Chapter 5 will be ready sometime next week, around Tuesday or Wednesday. Hope you enjoyed and have a brilliant weekend!


	5. Chapter 5: An Undeniable Attraction

The lunch bell rang, cutting in on the busy conversation and Khepri's even busier thoughts. The cafeteria was suddenly a hive of activity with students quickly packing up their bags and throwing out cans.

"Let me see your schedule, Khepri," Tea asked as the quintent started to move toward the door. Khepri dug it out of her bag and handed the slightly crumpled paper to Tea.

Tea skimmed over it quickly and looked at her as though she'd grown another head. "Are you kidding? You're in all the highest level classes," she said increduously, before quickly checking herself. "I mean, not that we didn't think you weren't smart or anything..."

"No, I mean, yes," Khepri stammered. "I'm just as surprised as you are, I thought I failed the placement exams completely."

Joey snickered as he looked over Tea's shoulder at the schedule. "You've got class with Rich Boy Kaiba the rest of the day," he crowed. Khepri groaned inwardly as she took her schedule back from Tea and shoved it back down into the depths of her bag.

"But you have class with Yugi too," Tea added comfortingly. "Your next class, World Relations."

"That's great," Yugi said enthusiastically. "Come on, we should hurry."

The group split, Yugi and Khepri waving goodbye to the other three. Khepri couldn't believe her luck, but couldn't decide what to do: should she wait until she had contacted the Maatkare, or should she grill Yugi now on how he really acquired the Sennen Puzzle?

Her sense of caution won out, and it was only pleasant chatter that passed between them on the way to class. As Joey had announced, Kaiba was indeed sitting in the back, and she swore she saw him smirk at them as she and Yugi sat down next to each other.

Kaiba wore that same smirk the rest of the day, decidedly looking anywhere but in Khepri's direction, even though in one class the teacher had sat the two of them side by side. The last four periods of the day passed by uneventfully, especially in comparison with that morning.

By the end of the day, Khepri was physically and mentally exhausted. She hadn't considered herself jetlagged until now. Her ice pack had melted and her nose had begun to throb painfully. When the final bell rang, she was the first one out the door and out the building.

Checking her phone, she saw that Awan had texted her, letting her know that he would pick her up after school at the same place she had been dropped off. She smiled slightly at the hilarity of Awan texting, sliding her phone back into her bag.

Suddenly, a hard shove nearly sent her sprawling to the ground. She heard an incredulous, "They moved the book?!", and looked at the abuser just in time to see Seto Kaiba pushing his way through the crowd, a stormy expression silencing any protests from the unfortunate in his way.

Khepri didn't think twice: she followed him, moving quickly through the crowds of people in his wake. She wanted to hear his conversation, needed to know if what he had said was what she thought it was.

Luckily, he stopped by the flagpole, just feet away from where Awan had dropped her off that morning. Leaning in what she hoped was an inconspicous manner against the pole, she strained to hear Kaiba's voice, low and deadly.

"I don't care what it takes, I want that book found and on my desk. Before the next tournament." There was a snap as he hung up the phone, but it didn't compare to his sharpness of his next words.

"And what are you doing there?" he snapped, anger darkening his face.

"What, feeling threatened because you don't have a door to hit me with?" Khepri shot back, not skipping a beat. "I'm waiting for my ride, if you don't mind."

He narrowed his eyes, but merely hurrumphed and looked at her disparagingly. "In case you forgot, I already apologized for that. Now, why don't you go hang out with your new twerp friends?"

A shining black limo pulled up to the curb just then. A hurried looking chauffeur jumped out of the front and opened the door for Kaiba. "At least I have friends," Khepri managed before Kaiba slid neatly into the back of the limo and the chauffeur shut the door. Within seconds, the limo had pulled away.

"What an arrogant... pig!" Khepri muttered to herself. Moments later, Awan pulled up to the curb. He smiled warmly as Khepri opened the door and sat down. His smile quickly turned to a look of disbelief.

"What happened to you?"

"Seto Kaiba hit me in the face with a door this morning on my way to class and broke my nose," she said casually, shutting the door firmly. But Awan didn't take the car out of park.

"Who?" His face was like a stone mask.

"I know, Awan," Khepri added quickly. "But he hasn't guessed the book is right under his nose. I think he knows it has been moved, he was on the phone and he said he didn't care what it took, as long as the book was found. The door was an accident, really, and I think we should keep him under close watch. And there's something else." Khepri lowered her voice. "There's a boy with the Sennen Puzzle here. He looks exactly like Atemu."

Awan widened his eyes in shock. "Atemu? Could he be...?"

Khepri frowned. "I haven't an idea. I couldn't ask him outright about the Puzzle. They, he and his friends, must know something about it. They told me he found it in an antique store or some such nonsense. That he wears it as a fashion statement."

Awan appeared to be wavering. He looked at her carefully.

"Khepri, you know as well as I do that your safety and the safety of the book are foremost. Perhaps we should consider going back for now..."

"But think about it, Awan! If there's even a possibility that this boy, Yugi, is the Pharaoh's incarnate... Priest Seth perhaps even has returned! Please, Awan, with their protection, we would be impenetrable. The Maatkare could maybe even overthrow the Kamenwati for good!" Khepri's eyes glimmered at the prospect. Awan was clearly on the verge of capitulating. Khepri changed her tactic quickly. Somehow, despite Seto Kaiba, there was an undeniable attraction to Domino, and Khepri was stricken with a fierce desire to stay as long as possible. But she had to convince Awan.

"Let me stay. If the boy is not Atemu, we can leave," Khepri offered. "Give me two weeks." She waited with bated breath while Awan warred with common sense and the faint promise of a Pharaoh's spirit.

"Alright," Awan conceeded. "But only two weeks. After that, we leave Domino."

"Agreed," Khepri nodded. "Now can we head home? My nose is throbbing," she added ruefully.

Awan smiled apologetically. The car moved slowly away from the curb, back toward home.

**KbN- **Hope everyone enjoyed… What now for Khepri? Nothing boring, I promise that ;) Look out for some romance blooming in the next couple of chapters!


	6. Chapter 6: Champagne For My Real Friends

The week flew by for Khepri. The bruises around her nose faded quickly (though it might have been in part because of the comfrey leaves Awan had given to her) and no one seemed to remember the incident. She and Kaiba ignored each other thoroughly, though they seemed to have a competition in their classes as to who could volunteer more answers. Every time Khepri trumped Kaiba, she smiled a little wider and sat up a little straighter. Kaiba merely settled back with his trademarked smirk, and beat her to the next answer.

She sat with her new friends every day. She suspected Tea didn't have many girl friends outside of her group, and having never really had a true girlfriend either, welcomed Tea with open arms. By Friday, it seemed as though she had always been a part of the small group, laughing over some stupid comment of Joey's and teasing Tristan about his obvious infatuation with the female race. She still hadn't asked Yugi about the Sennen Puzzle, however. She couldn't figure out how to broach the subject. It was never brought up while she hung around the group, and though she and Yugi walked to class from lunch every day, she couldn't bring herself to bring it up.

As she walked to into the lunchroom Friday, she knew something was going on. Tea was obviously looking around the room for her, and her face lit up excitedly as soon as Khepri walked through the doors.

"We're going out tonight!" Tea practically squealed as Khepri sat down.

"Pardon?" Khepri said, confused.

"Going dancing! There's a fabulous new club opening tonight, and we're going to be there!" Tea was nearly dancing in her seat already.

Khepri couldn't help but laugh delightedly. Tea's enthusiasm was catching, even if Khepri had never been dancing in her life. That wasn't something she was about to admit, though she did have a more pressing problem.

"Um, Tea, what do I wear?" Khepri looked at her friend nervously.

"What a girl question," Tristan groaned, Joey snickering beside him. Yugi rolled his eyes at the pair.

"The girls you goggle at, Tristan, ask questions like that." Tea said waspishly, shutting the two of them up. "You don't have any sparkly shirts or anything?" Tea asked Khepri, once again cheery.

"Nothing," Khepri admitted. "My wardrobe is very... practical."

"I thought you American kids partied all the time," Joey said, looking over at me.

"Not me," Khepri said defensively. "I'm not a party kid." Joey merely rolled his eyes as though to say, "Of course you're not."

"So we just have to go shopping," Tea said. "Let's cut the rest of the day and go find you something to wear." Her eyes shone conspiratorially.

"Cut class?" Khepri was stunned. "But couldn't we just wait until after school?"

"Where's the fun in that? Be a rebel," Tea said with a grin. Khepri bit her lip before sighing, "Alright."

Tea laughed excited, hugging Khepri. "Hurrah!" she cried.

"Hey, Kaiba, why don't you go sulk around somewhere else?" Tristan called suddenly. Tea and Khepri broke their hug to see Kaiba standing by the trashcan, watching their table... almost wistfully. Khepri caught the longing in his eyes just before he fixed his usual hard gaze upon them.

"Why would I want to waste my time watching a bunch of dweebs chatter about shopping?" Kaiba said silkily.

"Oh, go be miserable somewhere else, Kaiba," Khepri snapped, shocking everyone at the table. The anger that had been building up since he had hit her with the door was released. Her voice bordered on shrill as she stared him down. "Just _go_!"

Kaiba tossed a final sneer at the group before leaving the cafeteria. Only Khepri noticed his wallet fall from his pocket, and while the rest of the table laughed, Khepri knocked her phone off the table, swooping down to grab both her phone and the wallet. She stashed them both in her purse, right as the bell rang.

"Are we ready, girlfriend?" Tea asked, linking arms with Khepri as they left the lunchroom.

"As ever," Khepri replied. While the boys journeyed off to class, Tea lead her straight down the main hallway, past the main office, and right out the front door.

"Do you do this often?" Khepri asked, looking behind them for the principal or a teacher to come sprinting after them and drag them back into the building. But no one followed them and Tea laughed at her caution.

"No, but I think today was a good day to get out of there," Tea confessed. "Come on, let's catch a train downtown."

* * *

Shopping was not as glamorous as some movies had made it out to be, Khepri found. Tea was very critical of what Khepri could and could not wear. In Khepri's mind, a dance warranted floor length gowns or at least a classy dress. Tea had found more short skirts and sequined tops than Khepri had ever though existed. Tea complained that everything Khepri picked out was overly conservative, while Khepri complained that the amount of skin Tea wanted her to show was just indecent.

"Where are you from in America?" Tea grumbled. "A convent town?"

"No," Khepri protested, "My family just raised me to be very modest, is all..." Tea just shook her head and laughed as they walked to yet another store.

"Okay, this is my trump card," Tea said as they walked into a glitzy boutique. "If we don't find anything here, then there's no hope for any of us."

And then... there it was. Both of them pointed at the same outfit and said in unison, "That's it!"

_It was it_, Khepri mused in the dressing room, modeling before the mirror and Tea. The peacock blue shirt hugged her chest, but wasn't uncomfortable. The single sleeve over her left arm went to her elbow, while the bodice ended just at her belly button. The silver-white netting over the shirt clung to her curves all the way down to her knees, though the blue skirt beneath it started at her over her hips and ended mid-thigh.

"It's still a little scandalous," Khepri said, though the protest was half-hearted and Tea knew it.

"You look incredible, Kaede," Tea said confidently. "That blue sets off your eyes so well, it's almost indecent." Khepri blanched at the thought and Tea laughed.

"You're getting it," Tea proclaimed as Khepri looked in the mirror again. Her long hair ended just at the top of the skirt; Tea had promised to curl it later. Her cheeks were pink with excitement and the peacock blue of the fabric was nearly the exact color of her eyes. The shoes Tea had found her made her a good two inches taller, and lengthened her calves. She was tall, slinky...

"I'm sexy," Khepri whispered in astonishment to her reflection. She couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't Kaede, this new girl with friends, the lie she was presenting was the sexy one, and not Khepri, the outdated girl of an ancient clan.

"No," Khepri said aloud, dismissing the idea. It was silly to think that there was Kaede and Khepri when Kaede was just another name Khepri had given herself.

But the thought persisted as she signed the credit slip as Kaede Ehime.

**KbN- **Cheers for shopping :) Next chapter by Wednesday-Thursday.  
Message me if you're interested in co-authoring a story. Details in reply.  
Check out _Senseless_, my first oneshot. Let me know what you think.


	7. Chapter 7: Please Don't Stop the Music

Chapter Seven:

By twilight, they were back in Domino, at Tea's apartment. "My parents are out of town for the week, on business," she explained. "It's just me for the week." Khepri felt a pang of loneliness for her parents, her many brothers and sisters, for the whole clan that was her family. She had never been this far away for so long without them.

Tea's tour of the apartment interrupted her thoughts, however. The two of them spent the next few hours slaving over makeup brushes and palettes. Khepri was an expert at applying kohl around her eyes, it being the only makeup she ever wore, but the eyelash curler was a foreign object entirely. But beauty was possible through the treacherous looking devices, and Khepri walked out of the room with her hair falling in soft waves about her shoulder and nearly enough glitter to cause seizures.

Tea looked stunning too, having pinned and sprayed sections of her hair back, resulting in a retro look Khepri was sure only Tea could have pulled off. She had emerged from the closet with a tight black tube, red leather skirt and knee-high boots. Ripped fishnet stockings and overlapped belts at her waist completed her outfit. She looked glamorous, confident and a far cry from the pretty but plain girl Khepri had met just a week ago.

They left the apartment soon after they finished: the boys were meeting them back at the train station. Khepri saw more than one man watch them walk down the street, and she could not help but glow inside.

The boys were already at the station when they arrived, and their reaction was nothing short of priceless, in Khepri's mind.

"Ladies," Tristan said, trying to slide between them and wrap his arms around their shoulders, "Allow me to escort you this evening."

"Bugger off, Tristan," Tea laughed, moving out from underneath his arm.

He pretended to look forlorn and turned to Khepri. She merely laughed too and shook her head. "Sorry, Tristan."

Joey laughed at his best friend. "Double rejection, buddy! Ouch!"

"Keep score all you want, pal," Tristan caught him in a noogie. "I'm sure you'll catch up quick enough!"

The train ride was short, taking them almost directly to the club. Tea led them straight up to front, and the bouncers let them in at once.

"Smooth," Khepri whispered in Tea's ear.

"I come dancing all the time," she answered back. "I know all the bouncers in the city."

But then the music began, and Khepri couldn't hear her own thoughts, let alone anything Tea was telling her. The club was dark but for strobes and black lights that hung from the ceiling. Khepri seemed to glow as she stepped beneath them, the netting on her shirt a brilliant purple-white.

"Let's dance," Tea said loudly, tugging on her hand. Khepri followed her down to a pit where hundreds of people, it seemed, were moving in time to the steady pulsing beat issuing from the speakers.

At first her hips were clumsy, and Khepri only swayed slightly to the music, watching Tea. This was Tea at her best: her movements were graceful and flowing as she twisted and writhed in time to the beat. And then it seemed to come to Khepri, from her feet to her waist to her shoulders and head, she felt as though the song had come to life within her and had to be let out. She danced.

Sweat dripped from every pore on her body it seemed, her heart was beating outside her body, she was sure of it. But she kept moving, never losing the beat. Like Tea, she waved off the boys that came over wanting to dance with her. She only relented when Yugi came up to her, his lips curved into a shy but sure smile. They danced for what could have been forever before human limitations became impossible to ignore.

"Let's get a drink," she yelled to Yugi, only just hearing herself above the music. He nodded and they went up to the bar, Tea following them.

Joey and Tristan were on an upper level, secluded in a corner. There were two cushioned sofas around a center table. They already had a collection of bottles before them, though they showed no signs of stopping drinking anytime soon.

"For the record," Tristan said, slurring slightly, "Joey has been rejected seven times, and I've only been shot down three."

"Nuh... Okay, maybe," Joey acknowledged, equally intoxicated.

Everyone laughed, and Tea called for drinks. A waiter came back carrying a fountain like device and a bottle. He sat it down in the middle of the table and bowed away.

"What is that?" Khepri asked apprehensively, staring at the silver fountain.

"Absinthe fountain," Tea said with a devious smile. The waiter returned suddenly with five small glasses and a small silver sugar pot. Tea handed him a bill and he disappeared once more.

"Absinthe?"

"The green fairy," Tristan slurred, and he and Joey burst into gales of laughter.

"Not," Yugi corrected, leaning toward the table. "They've taken the wormwood out, so you can drink as much as you like, but you'll only get drunk." Khepri watched, fascinated, as Yugi poured out the green liquid into the glasses. Then, one by one, he placed a sugar cube on a special spoon and held it beneath the spigot on the fountain. Water gushed from the spigot and Yugi did this for each of the glasses until five full glasses sat before them all. It was no longer a clear green but an opaque minty sort of color.

Everyone raised their glasses, and Khepri quickly followed suit. "To friendship," Yugi toasted, looking around at all of them. Somehow, here in the club, he seemed older, his voice deeper. Together they all downed their glasses.

It was like swallowing fire, the way it burned down her tongue to her throat and catching ablaze in her stomach. And yet, it was incredible, heating her and filling her like the music had only moments ago.

"Amazing," Khepri gasped. Tea looked at her with a crooked smile. Perhaps it was the light, or maybe the liquor, but everyone looked older, more devious, more mischievous, more wise.

"You're not from the States, are you?" Tea asked bluntly.

Khepri was taken aback, but recovered quickly, and decided now was the time.

"No," Khepri replied, "I'm not from the States anymore than Yugi found the Sennen Puzzle in an antique shop. And I'll tell you everything if you tell me what Atemu is doing posing as Yugi Mutou."

**KbN**- Sorry that it took a little PG13 material to get everyone to loosen up. Hope you enjoyed! While you're waiting… en./wiki/Apep There's information that I've based the book upon. While my version of the Book is a little different, they are essentially the same. And it's always good to keep up on your Egyptian mythology. Next two chapters, answers are coming and lots will happen, so be sure to come on back and read. Please R/R, it's always appreciated and can be reciprocated J


	8. Chapter 8: Low Fidelity

There was stunned silence at the table, before Yugi asked in a carefully measured tone,

"You know about the Sennen Puzzle?"

Khepri held her head high and nodded. Getting drunk in a nightclub was not how she had anticipated demanding her answers, but they had leverage against her. She'd had to play her cards early, there was nothing to be done about it. No one was paying attention to their group at any rate. They could have discussed taking over the world, and no one would have been the wiser.

"You first," Tea said, looking away from Khepri. Khepri was hurt that Tea refused to meet her gaze, but launched into her story... modified slightly. There were some details only the clan could know, and she wouldn't have divulged them even on threat of death.

"I am the eldest daughter of the head family in the Maatkare. I'm here on a kind of... mission. My family and the Maatkare guard a priceless treasure, one that a rival clan has dedicated themselves to taking and using to destroy humanity."

Joey cut it suddenly. "You mean you're another nut trying to save the world?"

Khepri frowned, slightly offended. "I suppose. I am not from America, but Egypt, and I was sent here for my own safety. All of my siblings, but the youngest two, were scattered across various parts of the world in an effort to confuse the Kamenwati, the dark rebel clan. One of us has the treasure. No one but the one who has it knows who."

"And you know who does," Yugi said softly. Khepri glanced around them before giving a curt nod.

"I'm not going to tell you what it is, nor where it is, but I can tell you that Kaiba Corporation wants it as well, but for a more superfluous reason. Kaiba is hosting another tournament soon, and he wants it to create a new monster. One only he would own, and one that would be unbeatable."

There was another silence at the table, before Tea asked, "Kaede isn't your real name, is it? You lied."

Khepri flinched at that, before confessing that detail too. "Yes, but it's really safer for all parties if I don't tell you my real name either."

Khepri looked around the table before speaking again. "What about the Sennen Puzzle? I promise I'm not here because of it," she added quickly. "My family knows of the Sennen Items, but we have no interest in them. We are only guardians, nothing more."

Yugi relaxed visibly at that, his shoulders easing out of their previously hunched position.

"My grandfather had the Puzzle in his shop," he began. "It was in many pieces, and it took me eight years to put it back together. When it did, Atemu's spirit, which had been sealed inside, filled me. We coexist together, different people in the same body."

Khepri leapt at that. "Does he have his memories?"

"Most," Yugi admitted grudgingly. "In fact, I remember most everything from my time." Khepri realized that it was no longer Yugi speaking, but Atemu, the great Pharaoh. "Oh, my Pharaoh," she whispered, instinctively, inclining her head toward him.

He nodded to her, and continued. "I have little residual power however, which I suspect was your next question."

Khepri nodded, and said quietly, "I was afraid it would be that way. When I recognized the Puzzle, I knew I had to ask, for the sake of the Maatkare. The Kamenwati and Kaiba Corp have been most vigilant in their pursuit of the treasure, and any help you could have given us would have been most fervently appreciated. I understand though."

Tea interjected here. "Is that the only reason we were friends? So you could get to Yugi?"

"No!" Khepri protested at once. "It was there in the back of my mind, yes, but not the main reason." She turned pleading eyes from Tea to Tristan and Joey, to Atemu, Yugi. "Please believe me."

Tea did not speak a word but instead rose from her seat, rather unsteadily, and walked briskly away. Khepri jumped up from her seat, leaving the boys and going after her friend. The swarms of people in the club swallowed her quickly and completely.

Khepri ended up at the front entrance and saw the doors closing. "Tea," she called, running out of the club, on to the street. Outside, the skies had broken loose with a furious storm. Sheets of rain came down nearly sideways. Khepri was soaked through in an instant, but she didn't care. She rushed down the sidewalk in her heels, tripping more than once, but always righting herself. The cool night air was bracing after the heat of the club, but the absinthe made her head rush every time she tripped.

Suddenly she stopped. Which way had she turned? Which way was the club? Khepri spun in a circle, realizing she was in the business district of a town she didn't know. She didn't even have her purse, having left it in the club. The rain had not slackened in the least, and the blood throbbed in her temples.

"Where am I?" she whispered desperately.

"Outside of Kaiba Corp," a steely voice answered. "How can I help you?"

* * *

**KbN:** Hello everyone! In case you haven't noticed, I've started using song names for chapter titles. Mostly because I'm miserable at labelling things, and partly because they are all songs that I feel relate a little bit to the chapter. Props if you can guess the artist (leave it in a review :) )

Chapter nine is coming soon! Until then, please look up **Autumn-Angel-31 **and **YourPsycho**, they're working really hard on some fantastic stories. Stop by and leave a review :D

* * *


	9. Chapter 9: Moshi Moshi

Chapter Nine:

"What- what are you doing here?" Khepri sputtered, suddenly shivering, suddenly realizing just how soaked through she was and how stupid it was to rush through the rain. She eyed the umbrella Kaiba held enviously.

"I could ask the same of you," Kaiba replied, eyeing her from head to toe. "If you were hard up for money, I suppose I could lend you some..."

"I am _not_ a prostitute," Khepri practically screeched. She marched toward him, intending to slap him across his smug face, but he caught her hand midair. There was a seconds pause where the world stopped as he held her wrist, the two of them regarding each other like feral cats. Then Khepri pulled her hand away, explaining herself. "I was at the club, and I ran after someone... and got lost." Her voice trailed off weakly as a dark limo pulled up to the curb.

Kaiba sighed heavily, looking at her bedraggled appearance before asking rather civilly, "Would you like a ride back?"

Khepri pursed her lips, but nodded anyway. It would be insane to pass up a free ride. They walked to the car, keeping a wary distance between each other. The chauffer, even in the pouring rain, was waiting with an open door. Kaiba motioned Khepri in first and she climbed into the car gingerly. Kaiba stepped in behind her, and the door snapped shut behind them.

Khepri regarded his stern profile in the dim lighting of the car. He had a strong chin, she thought, and a clear cut jaw. He could pull off a five o'clock shadow, Khepri decided, before looking quickly away. She didn't see Kaiba studying her profile as the limo pulled away from the curb.

"I'm kind of wet," Khepri said, awkwardly aware that her outfit was heavy and chafing under her arms.

Kaiba just snorted.

"You were working late," Khepri said, just to break the silence.

"I usually do," he replied shortly.

"It's Friday night," Khepri added, as though it changed everything.

"I still have a company to run, regardless of what day of the week it is."

"You're really dedicated." It was more of a statement than a compliment.

"I am," he said heavily. "I'm seventeen and I'm a billionaire CEO. I have to be."

There was a pregnant pause, and Khepri remembered the episode in the lunchroom earlier. "I have your wallet," she said suddenly.

Kaiba looked over then, giving her a look that was half angry, half confused. "What?"

"You dropped it when you were stalking away from the table at lunch," Khepri said, slightly annoyed. She went to reach into her purse, and realized she didn't have it with her.

"Give it to me Monday," Kaiba said offhandedly. "It's obvious that you don't have it on you."

Khepri half-gaped, slightly confused, before saying the next thing that popped into her head.

"You looked sad today, in the cafeteria," Khepri said, before she could stop herself. "When Tristan told you to go away."

"What are you talking about?" If there had been any emotion in his last sentence, it was entirely evaporated now.

But Khepri was in no mood for games. "Oh, cut it, Kaiba," she said abruptly, turning to face him head on. "You're not a machine, and you never will be, no matter how much you try to deny the humanity of emotions."

"Don't give me that friendship crap, Kaede," he said scathingly. "I hear it enough from the dweeb brigade. Is that part of joining their little club, you have to lecture me on happiness and friendship, maybe rainbows and butterflies?"

"Can you honestly tell me you feel nothing?" Khepri pressed, ignoring his last comments. "Don't you ever imagine that you might be human and fall in love, get married? Have a couple heirs for the great Kaiba legacy?"

"Don't mock me," he said coldly.

"Are you human or not?" Khepri asked roughly, looking him square in the eyes. "You feel hate, you feel anger, what about happiness? What about passion?" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "What about love?" Her temper clouded her thoughts and she leaned in, kissing him on the lips.

He kissed her back, roughly, angrily, hungrily, suddenly pulling her toward him, his hands at her neck, her shoulders, in her hair. Their tongues met as eagerly as their lips. Khepri was nearly delirious with the tremors shook her body.

And then the warmth was gone. She opened her eyes to see that he had pulled away as quickly as he leaned into her. There was a wet spot on his chest, from her sodden outfit. The fuzz around her mind was gone. Khepri painfully remembered the absinthe from earlier, her first time with recreational alcohol.

"Does that answer your question?" Kaiba said coolly, looking straight ahead.

"I'm sorry," Khepri whispered, achingly embarrassed. "I had a drink earlier..."

"Is this the club you were at?" Kaiba asked. Khepri realized with a jolt that the car was stopped, indeed, had been stopped for a while.

"Yeah," Khepri said, looking out the window. She recognized the club's exterior. Quickly she opened the door, but as anxious as she was to get out, she looked back at Kaiba.

"Thank you," she said sadly, trying convey to him that she meant it. He waved her out of the car, and stung, Khepri got out, shutting the door behind her. The limo paused for a second, and she swore she felt Kaiba's eyes on her before the car vanished into the night.

The rain had stopped, leaving the night quiet and clean. The bouncers were gone from their watch posts, and Khepri feared that her escapade had taken longer than she thought. What if they weren't here anymore? What if her purse was gone? But she opened the door anyway, finding the club mostly empty, but to her greatest relief, she spied Yugi's familiar spiky hair in the farthest corner.

She walked slowly over to them, dreading confronting them again. Tea was with the boys, she noticed as she drew closer. It wasn't until she was finally upon them that they noticed Khepri, and not in a good way.

"What happened to you?" Tea asked, her voice alarmed.

Khepri realized the state she must be in, but answered levelly. "I went looking for you, and I thought you'd run outside."

"I went to the restroom," she said, almost coldly.

"Well, we should probably get out of here," Yugi said before any more words could be exchanged. The four of them walked toward the door. Khepri spied her purse on the couch cushion, and picked it up. She didn't bother calling out for them to wait for her, but merely trudged to the door behind them.


	10. Chapter 10: Real Pain for My Sham Friend

Chapter Ten:

The journey back to the north end of Domino was a silent trip. The five teens were achingly silent around each other, avoiding Khepri's eyes and staring at the floor or each other. Khepri wasn't sure if she could have strung a sentence together even if they had wanted to talk to her: her thoughts seemed to be like beads on a broken necklace, dropping and rolling away before she could recapture them.

She had kissed Kaiba; she remembered that all too clearly. Khepri had no intentions of ever telling anyone about that mistake. Because that's all it was, a mistake. She had been caught up in the argument, and the absinthe had loosened her up just enough. Khepri had always been guilty of acting before thinking, and how was this any different? A small part of her mind defiantly maintained that she had just been proving her point. He had kissed her back, hadn't he? Quite passionately too.

Perhaps that was the most disturbing part. Seto Kaiba had kissed her back. She had enjoyed it. Yes, she had, Khepri admitted to herself. For an instant in the car, there had been nothing else in the world but his lips on hers. No Maatkare, no Kamenwati, and as strange as it sounded, no Seto Kaiba. Just a beautiful boy, his lips caressing hers.

The train pulled to a stop, and the others rose. Khepri slowed joined them. They exchanged no words as they exited the train and station. Khepri was sure she could manage walking back to her townhouse by herself, but to her great surprise, Yugi split with the other three and instead turned to the right with Khepri.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Yugi spoke.

"I'm sorry about tonight," he said, almost shyly.

"Why are you sorry?" Khepri asked heavily. "I am the liar here."

"Tea is really the only one who is hurt," Yugi replied. "I understand what you're doing and why you are here. You can't help it. But Tea is a little tired of all the crazy stuff happening around here and you did lie."

He didn't mean it harshly, but it still sounded that way to Khepri. "I truly am sorry," Khepri said finally. "I didn't mean to hurt her or anyone, and the Sennen item was not the reason for my friendship. I like you all for who you are, not what you are."

"Give Tea some time," Yugi said as they arrived at the front gate to her townhouse. He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently, before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking on down the sidewalk. Khepri watched him until she could no longer tell his figure from the darkness, and then opened the gate.

Khepri had blissfully forgotten that she did not live alone, something she realized as she walked up to the door. All the lights were blazing in the house, and she saw a dark shadow pacing in the living room, the shape muffled through the curtains. But she did not need to see the figure clearly to know that Awan was waiting for her.

Khepri slid her key into the lock and cringed as the door squeaked open. Awan literally pounced on her as she stepped onto the threshold, swinging the door shut behind her.

"Where... were you?" Awan nearly growled, panic, anger, and relief marring his normally open and happy face.

"I'm sorry," Khepri said immediately, truly apologetic. "Tea and I left school early, we went out. I was with friends all night. I should have called."

"Or checked your phone!" Awan added, the anger receding from his voice. "It's three in the morning, Khepri. Did you really forget for that long?"

Khepri's stomach twisted with guilt and shame. How could she have forgotten to call Awan? How long had he waited for her at the school?

"Khepri, do you need to be reminded of how important you are to the clan?" Awan continued. "Your kaa is..." Suddenly he blanched, and broke off midsentence.

"What about my kaa?" Khepri asked, suddenly curious.

"Nothing, I misspoke," Awan said quickly, before sighing heavily. "You are lucky I only contacted your brother, little miss."

"What?!" Khepri burst out. "Why did you call Rashid?" Her brother, born only ten months before her, was a stern and gruff young man. Most teens his age were: boys became men at 14 in the Maatkare.

"Rashidi managed to get a flight from Chicago to Tokyo," Awan continued. "I could not bring myself to call your father right away and tell him I had failed to protect the daughter of the clan. He will be here tomorrow afternoon." He looked down at Khepri. Her hair had frizzed from the rain, her makeup smeared and running down her cheeks.

"You should go and ready for bed," Awan said gently. "It is not my place to lecture you, only keep you and the book safe." With that, he left the hallway, closing his bedroom door behind him.

_Rashidi is coming_, Khepri thought, unsure of how happy she would be to see her brother. He was aloof enough at home, and the two siblings had not contacted each other since leaving home. Dejected and truly ready for sleep, Khepri began to climb the stairs.

"And Khepri." Awan poked his head out of his room. "A boy saw you leaving school early today. You have detention for skipping your classes tomorrow morning."

"Thanks, Awan," Khepri said acidly, and the door shut once more.

**KbN:** Sorry it's so short, but more is coming. I'd like your ideas on a concept! I'm debating on having a sort of spring dance at the school... If it happens, then I need to start writing it in as soon as possible! You can vote in the poll on my homepage or you can message me/leave your thoughts in the review you leave ;) Thanks for your input!!


	11. Chapter 11: Brother in Arms

Chapter Eleven:

Detention was a misery beyond anything Khepri had known before. The offwhite walls stared blankly at her, while the window beckoned with promises of the outside world. There were no books, no paper, nothing to do but sit and wait. Khepri resolved to never skip class again in that moment, or do anything that might warrant this kind of torture. Besides Khepri, only two others served their time in the little room, guarded by her prim English teacher. When one o'clock finally rolled around, Khepri was ready to burst out of her skin with boredom. Her joy was smothered by her teacher's dry voice following her out the door, "Remember, next Saturday as well, Miss Ehime!"

She went promptly back home, nevertheless delighting in the sunshine and fresh breeze. Rashid would be here by now, she was sure, and while she wasn't necessarily excited to see her blood brother, he might have news of home.

He was sitting on the front step, waiting for her. His jet black hair was ruffled in the wind, and he was squinting his blue eyes against the sun.

"Khepri," Rashid said quietly as she walked toward him, stopping at the steps. She surveyed her brother. She had never seen him dressed so casually, in jeans and a plain white t-shirt. Black Converse covered his feet.

"Brother," she replied. "You've assimilated well, it would see."

"As have you," he answered evenly, sliding into the old language. "You must have had quite a night last night."

Khepri merely scowled at him.

"You are not here to have fun, sister," Rashid continued. In the week she had not heard old Egyptian, the language of her ancestors, it had become foreign and unfamiliar. So quickly, she mused, hardly listening to her brother's bluster.

"I have heard you have seen Seto Kaiba," Khepri heard suddenly, and snapped back to attention.

"Yes," she answered cautiously.

"Stay as far away from him as possible. He knows we have moved the book. I do not want to know what he'd do should he discover it in Domino." Her brother smirked, not unlike Kaiba's normal demeanor.

"Really, Rashid," Khepri said acidly, rolling her eyes and answering in English. "Did you fly all the way out here to tell me that?"

"Khepri!" he growled. "Do not cross me. I can just as easily take over guardianship of the book if Father thinks that you cannot handle the task. Just because your kaa is so special..." He froze, a shade of panic crossing his face.

Khepri did not miss the complaint in his voice, the words he spoke, or the shock he had shown. Twice now, within the space of a day, her kaa had been referenced as being special, even though no one had ever said anything about it within the past seventeen years.

"What about my kaa?" she asked urgently, speaking in the old language to appease her brother. "Awan said the same last night. How have I never heard this spoken of before?"

"It is nothing," Rashid replied sulkily. "You channel a powerful spirit, is all. I'm sure it could be explained when you go home." This time it was he who switched back to English. "You are to stay away from Seto Kaiba. It was a mistake that you were sent so near to him, and why Father does not move you away, I do not know. Stay away from Seto Kaiba."

**KbN: **My apologies for such a short chapter!! There's plenty of juicy stuff coming up, I promise, romance, tragedy, the works! Hope you enjoyed, and please, if you have time, go to my profile and vote in the poll there! I'd like to know what the readers want. Thanks much. 3


	12. Chapter 12: Behind Blue Eyes

Chapter Twelve: (part 1, take 2)

Her brother's words rang in her head the whole of Saturday and Sunday, and Khepri was reminded of them again Monday morning when she caught sight of Kaiba during their first class. They avoided each other's eyes entirely, and Khepri went to her usual seat in the back beside Tea and Joey. But they too, did not quite meet her eyes, instead only nodding and murmuring pleasantries.

Khepri did not press them, instead looking at her desk or straight ahead. First period passed mierably, as did her second and third. Lunch followed, and Khepri very nearly walked out of the school as she had the last Friday. But she knew she could not leave school, and so she walked to the cafeteria, snorting with derision at the large banner that had appeared in the hallway. It advertised for a dance, the Spring Fling, two weekends from now. Khepri had never been to a school dance, and right now, she wasn't sure anyone she knew would be willing to take her. She lingered by the door, her eyes scanning for an open table, landing briefly on her friends' table. In between Yugi and Tea where she normally sat was instead a boy with startlingly white hair. A pang swept through her heart (could she have been replaced so easy?), and she quickly turned her head to the other side of the cafeteria. Her eyes went back to the only empty table, the one she had ignored because of its single occupant. Khepri sighed, and walked across the cafeteria to sit down across from Seto Kaiba.

"Is there a rift in the dweeb dream team?" he asked snidely as Khepri slid into the seat, hardly even glancing at her.

Khepri ignored him, pulling out her apple and water. She had left early today, before Awan had packed a lunch.

"How was the rest of your weekend?" she asked courteously, fingering the stem of the apple. Its smooth red skin slid beneath her palms, fitting into her hands.

"When I wasn't escorting drunk girls around downtown Domino? Why do you want to know?" Kaiba looked up, arching an eyebrow at her. His voice and tone brought to memory a flint striking steel: both cold and hard, but fire beneath the words. Anger, always ready to rise.

"Because I would like to know," Khepri said sincerely. Their eyes met for the first time, and this time, it was a competition to see who could hold the other's gaze longest. There was the heaviest of moments, before Kaiba replied levelly.

"It was arduous. I'm looking for something to design a special product, but no one can seem to locate it."

"A duel monster card?" Khepri asked carefully, taking a bite of her apple.

"Yes," Kaiba admitted grudgingly.

"What is it you're looking for?" Khepri inquired, pushing him on.

"A book." Kaiba frowned. "I could just make the card, but I want this monster to be all powerful. I want it to be my greatest achievement. I want to be able to defeat anyone in my way." His voice grew louder until his last words could be heard clearly over the din of the cafeteria. Khepri shivered inwardly. _Anyone in his way..._

"You're very determined," she said finally, almost sadly.

Kaiba suddenly reached into the breast pocket of his school jacket. He withdrew a deck of cards, setting them down on the table.

"Dueling is my life. Everything about it." He spread the cards, still facedown across the table. Khepri looked at them all, so similar on one side. She picked one up randomly and turned around to look at it.

"Blues Eyes White Dragon," she whispered, reverently. It was only a image, but somehow she could image this dragon as real, tossing her head carelessly. She would be powerful, beautiful.

"She's incredible," Khepri said, handing the card to Kaiba. He had been watching her intently, but he snorted as he took the card.

"She?" he asked incredulously.

"Um, of course," Khepri said. "Look at her. She's proud and cold, powerful, but still so gentle within. There's no way that's a man." She flushed as she looked at Kaiba. The first three adjective definitely applied to him... what about the fourth?

He could have had the same thought, for a pink flush took hold of his cheeks as well.

"Maybe," he said, more to end the conversation than agree with her. "My Blue Eyes are my prized possesions... But all the same, I need that book." He turned his head to the side, looking out the window at the wind ruffling the leaves.

In that moment, Khepri saw it. His nose, straight until it turned slightly up at the tip. The mess of rich brown hair. The determined set of his jaw. Even the Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"Seth," Khepri murmured, staring at the priest incarnate of millenia past.


	13. Chapter 13: Impromptu Decisions

Chapter 12 P 2

Kaiba looked over. "What, Kaede?"

Her name rolled off his tongue, sounding like the name of a lover, a companion. There was a definite caress as he spoke it, turning back to face her. His eyes flashed, like sapphires set in the sun, looking her straight on again.

No, Kaede was the newcomer. Kaede was just a fairy tale.

"You don't want the book," Khepri replied quietly. "It's more trouble than you can imagine." The bell rang as Kaiba looked confounded for a fraction of a second.

"What do you know about the book?" he asked fiercely. "What do you know?" But Khepri had already stood at the bell, had gathered the barely eaten apple and unopened water, and was on her way to the door. Never mind that she had class with him next.

_What did I say_, Khepri thought, throwing the apple into the trash can. _Why did I let him know I knew about the book?_ The words had just slipped out, but they could very well be her undoing. Her brother's warning came unbidden into her head, this time smug and self-righteous. He _had_ been right, Khepri knew. She would try to avoid Kaiba as much as she could for the rest of the day. Go home. Tell Awan and Rashid and they would all take the book and go. Khepri could go home where she would forget about her friends and most of all, forget that Seto Kaiba was the Priest Seth's soul carrier, and just how blue his eyes were.

She beat everyone to class, and was grateful that Yugi came in just a moment after she did. Unlike Tea and Joey that morning, Yugi beamed at her and sat on her right.

"We missed you at lunch," he said, almost a little petulantly. "You sat with Kaiba?"

"Yeah," Khepri admitted rather unwillingly. "But I saw someone else at the table… and I thought..."

"We might still be upset about last weekend?" Yugi finished with a gentle smile. "No, I don't think anyone else is. And that was Ryou you saw at the table. He's just come back from seeing his father in Egypt."

"Egypt?" Khepri echoed.

"His father is a renowned expert in Ancient Egyptian mythology," Yugi explained.

"Oh," was all Khepri could say before the bell rang again, signaling the start of class. Kaiba entered the room right as it finished it's chiming, warranting a surprised look from the instructor. He glared at Khepri, who promptly ducked down to rummage through her bag. Her hair fell over her face, shielding her from Kaiba's stare.

But the seat on her left was open, and he sat himself down firmly in it. Khepri paid him no mind, instead pretending to copy notes down about Ancient China. Out of nowhere, a sheet of notebook paper, folded in half, landed on her desk. She looked once at the paper, then to Kaiba. He glared at her, waiting for her to open the note. She sighed, and opened the paper. His handwriting was scratchy, thin lines, but somehow neat.

"What do you know about the Book of Apophis?" Khepri sighed, having expected that line. Half of her wanted to simply tear the note into pieces and blow them back into Kaiba's face. And yet... He had no idea of the power that the book held. Surely, if he knew, he would back off?

"I am one of its guardians," she wrote simply, pushing the note back at him.

He opened it feverishly, read the lines quickly. His pen hung suspended over the paper though, as he digested the words. He scribbled a few words and passed the paper back to her.

"I need the book. You must give it to me."

Khepri practically laughed aloud at the arrogance of him. "What, just like that?" she wrote back. "Just hand it over and you'll get your way once more? That book is powerful, Kaiba, more powerful magick than you could ever imagine. I would rather die than have it in your hands."

Even Rashid would be proud of her answer. Khepri watched Kaiba out of the corner of her eye, saw the color rise in his face as he read her lines.

"Mr. Kaiba, Ms. Ehime," the teacher said suddenly, and both students looked up guiltily. He stood just feet away from the both of them, glaring more at Kaiba. "Note passing is unacceptable. Mr. Kaiba, perhaps you could care to share what you and Ms. Ehime have found to talk about?" Kaiba flushed and mumbled something under his breath.

"So everyone can hear?" the teacher pressed, frowning.

"I was asking if Kaede might go to the Spring Fling with me." Kaiba blurted out, looking as though he regretted the words as soon as they left his lips.

There was a heavy silence that fell over the room that was almost immediately broken by snickers and giggles. Khepri felt the blood rush to her face: she seemed to have become a human furnace. She didn't say anything, however. Maybe Kaiba was trying to keep the note out of the teacher's hands.

He didn't ask for it, only turning to Khepri, and with barely contained laughter, asked, "And Ms. Ehime? What have you decided?"

"Yes," she whispered, looking down at the desk.

Their teacher turned then, and the room burst into hushed titters and open looks of incredulity at the pair of them. The teacher cleared his throat a few times, bringing the noise back to a minimum.

Khepri didn't look up until she felt the heat fading from her cheeks. She looked sideways at Yugi, who merely stared at her as though she had grown another head. Khepri then turned helplessly to Kaiba. "How could you?" she mouthed.

He only shook his head and whispered back,

_"I want the book."_


	14. Chapter 14: Curiousity Killed The Cat

Chapter Thirteen:

By the time the final bell had rung, the news that Seto Kaiba was taking the new girl to the spring fling was all around the building. Joey, who had harbored no grudge about the weekend (he confessed to Khepri that he barely remembered it as they walked outside), thought the whole incident hilarious, teasing Khepri ruthlessly until Yugi finally told him to stop.

Joey wasn't the only one who thought the pairing hilarious. Somehow, the twelve other classmates who had seen it unfold had relayed the information to the rest of the school, so that by time Khepri was walking to sixth period, she was subject to giggles and stares as she travelled through the hall.

"But_ why_?" Khepri protested as she walked toward the street with Yugi and Joey.

"Because it's Kaiba," Joey crowed before breaking into more gales of laughter.

Yugi and Khepri simply rolled their eyes at him. Suddenly, Yugi stood up, looking over Khepri's shoulder, then waved.

"Hey, Ryou! Over here!" he called. Khepri turned to see the white haired boy from lunch walked toward them. He was incredibly pale, Khepri noted, his dark eyes standing out in his face.

"Hello, Yugi, Joey," Ryou said in a pleasant voice, soft, faintly English. "And who might this be?" Ryou turned to Khepri. She stuck out her hand, which Ryou shook.

"Kaede," Khepri said graciously as they released hands. "It's a pleasure." Her hand felt strangely as though it had briefly touched hot metal: it burned slightly, and Khepri clenched her fingers, trying to rid her hand of the sensation. There was something behind Ryou's dark eyes, no matter how pleasant they seemed to be, that struck her as cold and calculating.

"Kaede?" Yugi's voice brought her back down to earth.

"Huh, what?" Khepri snapped back from her thoughts.

"Ryou asked you a question."

Khepri blushed. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "I just thought of something for a moment. What did you ask?"

Ryou's eyes seemed to narrow slightly, but by the time Khepri noticed it, the look had passed from his face. "Oh, it's nothing," he said, laughing the incident off. "But how is it being the new girl in Domino?"

"Interesting, to say the least," Khepri said offhandedly. "Are you a regular student here?"

"I travel to Egypt to visit my father occasionally," Ryou explained. "And I lived there until two years ago, when my father was named curator of the Domino Museum. But he still travels to Egypt sometimes, for digs and things like that."

Khepri smiled, and saw Awan pull up to the curb. "Excuse me, but I really must go," she said politely. "It was lovely to meet you, Ryou."

"My pleasure," he replied, inclining his head in a gentlemanly manner. Yugi opened his mouth to say something, but Khepri was shutting the car door by the time he made a sound.

Khepri could not shake the burnt-hand feeling Ryou's handshake had given her. Yugi had still called her Kaede all day, as had Joey, so she assumed they were sympathetic with her wishes and were continuing the facade. But would Ryou Bakura be let in on the secret?

Something told her no. Yugi was the kind of person who would not betray a confidence, no matter what his friends wished.

That night, Khepri's dreams were restless as she tossed and turned in bed. A ghostly figure with burning dark eyes set fire to the house and sifted through the ashes, looking for something. Another figure kidnapped her and hid her in the cellar, preaching in a strange language about duty and righteousness. It wasn't until nearly daybreak when her sleep became deeper, when a tall and handsome stranger with bright blue eyes rescued her from the dark cellar and held her while she sobbed in his arms.

The next day at school, the stares and snickers were worse. Khepri felt a plethora of burning eyes boring into her back as she stashed her books in her locker. The constant stares set her on edge, and when Seto Kaiba tapped her on the shoulder, she jumped and spilled the contents of her knapsack all over the floor.

"Oh!" was all Khepri managed before ducking her head and kneeling down to pick up her books and various papers. She went to grab a wayward lip gloss that was rolling steadily toward the other side of the hallway, and as her fingers touched the cool plastic, a warmer hand closed around hers.

"Here," Kaiba said abruptly, and Khepri pulled her hand away. Kaiba handed her the lip gloss and in silence, the two of them swiftly tucked the fallen paraphernalia back into Khepri's bag.

"So," Khepri began as the two of them stood again. She found herself desperately wishing for the bell: her first class was one of only two she didn't share with Kaiba.

"You can back out of the dance," Kaiba said without preamble. A smirk played about his lips. "I will find a way to get that book, but you don't have to go to the dance with me."

A great wave of relief washed over Khepri, but it didn't extinguish the small spark that flared suddenly. "Do you want me to back out? Just so you don't have to go with me?" she scoffed. "Or is it the dance itself that was a bad idea? Afraid to act like a normal teen?" she teased.

"Well, I can think of a score of better things to do then attend a dance," he said sourly. "File my taxes, organize my sock drawer…"

"Well, Kaiba," Khepri said, drawing herself up to her full height, even if it only was up to Kaiba's chin, "you asked me, however reluctantly, to a dance, and I could never bring myself to jilt you after you worked up the courage to do so." A smirk of her own grew as Kaiba's eyes narrowed.

"Fine," he practically spat. "Let me know the color of your dress then." He started to walk away as the minute bell rang.

"What, why?" Khepri asked, genuinely confused. Kaiba stopped and gave her a very patronizing look.

"Your corsage?" he said as though it were the most obvious answer in the world, before turning on his heel and striding away down the hall. The whispers and stares doubled in his wake, but some curious bright flame in Khepri's core grew stronger, and the glances rolled off her like water off a duck's back. She smirked in a fabulous imitation of Kaiba, shut her locker and marched to class.

_If he wants the book that badly,_ Khepri pondered on her way to class, _then he's going to have to do the most painful thing in the world for him... Act like a normal teen boy._


	15. Chapter 15: A Duel Begins

The day passed uneventfully until lunch: once more, Khepri slipped into the cafeteria and quickly stole a glance toward Yugi's table. Ryou was still in the space where Khepri had once been, a sight that dampened her spirits a touch. But when she sat into the seat across from Kaiba and he didn't look as disgruntled as she'd expected, she couldn't help but smile with delight on the inside.

Outwardly, however, she kept a serene half-smile across her face. Ruffling Kaiba's feathers earlier this morning had given her a savage pleasure, and while she had no intention of giving him the book, Kaiba didn't need to know that. The idea that she was attracted to the handsome teen never crossed her mind, the concept that she could have feelings for him even more inconceivable. No… she had had an epiphany this morning after seeing Kaiba stalk away: Seto Kaiba wasn't used to being crossed, and crossing him was rather enjoyable. She would allow him to think that perhaps if he won her confidence, he could see the Book. They would surely get the clearance to return to Egypt before she got in too deep, and then she could go home without a second thought. And there had to be some truth to the old adage, 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer'. With Kaiba closer to her, she could better monitor him, and keep him from finding the Book. And find out if he was really the reincarnate of Priest Seth.

"Good morning," Khepri said pleasantly, pulling out her lunch. Awan had outdone himself today in an effort to make up for the prior day's lunch of a simple apple and water: all her favorites had been carefully made and tucked into a bulging lunch bag.

Kaiba simply grunted in reply. But his obvious lack of enthusiasm did nothing to dampen Khepri's spirits, and she marched onward.

"So I was thinking earlier," Khepri began, "during class, you know, and I started wondering, if perhaps-"

"You could cut to the chase?" Kaiba interjected.

"We could get together before and get to know each other a little better?"

An awkward pause ensued, before Kaiba twisted his mouth around a bit as though he'd tasted something sour, and then asked politely, "You think we should go on a date?"

Khepri dimpled and blushed simultaneously. "Well, we are going to this dance together… perhaps we should make the best out of our situation?"

"If it's so undesirable a situation, then we could not go," Kaiba suggested silkily. A self-satisfied smile had already worked its way onto his lips.

"Oh, Kaiba, I'm not going to wound you so!" Khepri grinned brightly, knowing that this conversation was wounding him far more than her declining his thoughtless question would. "What are you doing this evening?"

"Working."

"Well…"

"I'm not going to any damned club, either."

Khepri grinned inwardly, laughing at his adamancy. "Of course not! No, perhaps we could do something you are interested in?"

Kaiba pondered the idea for a moment before speaking. "I'll schedule a duel for tonight. It'll be nice to duel something that can actually cry when I defeat them, rather than a computer. You can come watch."

Khepri failed to see how this was in the least bit date-like, but agreed nevertheless. "Shall we go there directly from school?"

Kaiba gave her a curt nod. "Then I will meet you in front if the school," Khepri said, and rose from the table. While he gave her a puzzled glance, he did not ask where she was going, and she didn't volunteer the information.

But as she walked away, her joy was evident on her face. Her plan was working.

It was a silent ride between the two of them in the back of Kaiba's limo. Kaiba spent the whole of the ride determinedly looking at anything but Khepri. Khepri's failed attempts to make conversation between the two of them were abandoned after the first few minutes, and she conceded defeat. If Kaiba did not want to talk, she could not make him.

It wasn't until they reached KaibaLand, the venue of that afternoon's duel, that Khepri found a topic Kaiba could talk about.

"What do you like so much about Duel Monsters?" she asked as they walked across the park grounds. They were very lovely, she had to admit, great stone statues of various monsters tastefully surrounded by shrubs and flowers. There were a great number of people milling about, all of whom parted respectfully as Kaiba strode purposefully through the park, Khepri trailing in his wake. They were headed for a large building in the center of the gardens, where the main duels were held. Around them, however, on the green lawns, there were a multitude of duels taking place, with spectators free to walk from duel to duel. For the Duel Monsters enthusiast, Khepri mused, this place had to be pretty close to heaven.

It seemed that Kaiba had already let the staff know that they should be expecting him: a suited man in sunglasses was waiting with a briefcase outside the main doors to the building. As soon as they reached the door, in a single fluid movement, the man handed the briefcase to Kaiba and opened the door for the two of them. Khepri, feeling more like she was simply tagging along, followed Kaiba silently. Even though the man wore sunglasses, Khepri could feel his eyes glued to her as they stepped into the large building.

The entered into a large hallway: double doors in front them were open and led into a large arena. There was a low hum of activity inside the arena, and Khepri noticed some of the seats were already being filled up. Down the hall to either side of them were more doors, as well as little alcoves with booths selling Duel Monsters merchandise. Khepri drank it all in, impressed.

"Do you come here often?" she asked curiously, eying a large Blue Eyes White Dragon stuffed animal that was hung from the ceiling of one of the booths. It seemed poised to attack any unknowing customer who happened to walk near it. Kaiba snickered and replied haughtily, "I own the place."

Kaiba then stopped at the double doors and looked at his watch. Khepri sidled up beside him, waiting expectantly for the verdict he would deliver.

"The duel starts in fifteen minutes. Wait in there," Kaiba said, pointing through the double doors. "Get a good seat." With that, he turned and walked away, through a single door just down the hall.

"He must have to prep for the duel," Khepri murmured to herself. A clap of thunder echoed suddenly though the building, and Khepri jumped involuntarily. Making her way through the doors, she stepped into the arena. The doors lead into the second level, with the floor level below and a higher balcony above. On the floor and second levels, there were tiered seats with plush red fabric. Khepri instead opted for a spot near the railing, and stood alone. As she waited patiently, some spectators joined her around the rail; more eschewed standing for the seats. No one stood too close to her, which suited Khepri just fine. While waiting, she investigated the arena on the floor level.

It was a large raised platform: there was what she guessed to be the playing field, with two higher platforms that jutted slightly over it. One was red, the other blue, both with a counter on the sides reading the number four thousand. She wasn't sure, but Khepri guessed that it must be the score.

A voice suddenly filled the stadium, young and childlike. Khepri furrowed her brow as she took in the words, gripping the rail in excitement.

"Good afternoon, duelists! Welcome to KaibaLand Battle Arena, where champion Seto Kaiba, my big brother, will be taking on Rex Raptor in what is sure to be a great duel!" Khepri looked around, confused.

"Kaiba has a little brother?" she muttered under her breath, and spotted him, a boy of about ten or twelve, in a glass walled room on the third level. He didn't look much like his brother, with black hair and lighter eyes, probably grey, but he was a cute boy nonetheless. He had a happy grin glued to his face, and he laughed as Khepri watched him.

The crowd around her began to cheer, and Khepri pulled her eyes away from the younger Kaiba to see the elder one ascend the blue platform. Kaiba was almost directly across from her; if he looked up at all during the duel, he would see her watching him. His opponent, Rex Raptor, was a tough looking boy Khepri had seen around school once or twice. His long dark hair spilled out from underneath his red cap, purple strands of his hair standing out against the darker brown beneath. Khepri had no idea whether or not this Rex Raptor was any good, but she fervently hoped Kaiba was as good as he was supposed to be. He would be insufferable if he lost.

"Duel!" Both of the boys said together, and Kaiba began, drawing several cards and looking through them for a moment.

"I'll play Vorse Raider in attack mode, and place one card face down," he said smugly and ended his turn. As soon as he placed the card down, a monster appeared on Kaiba's side of the field. It was a tall creature wielded a giant sword. Khepri was impressed by the holographics, and remember that this is what Kaiba did for a living, creating these illusions.

"You're going down, Kaiba!" Rex laughed as he drew a card.

"I sincerely doubt you could accomplish that, Raptor," Kaiba retorted smoothly.

"Whatever! I know you only challenged me so you could impress your little girlfriend," Rex taunted. "So now I have even more incentive to beat you… So I can humiliate you in front of a crowd _and_ your little girlfriend!" He laughed again as Kaiba flushed a deep red. There was a sudden rush of whispering throughout the crowd, and Khepri felt a blush creeping up her own cheeks. She knew what they were whispering about. She caught the words, "Kaiba," "girlfriend" and "unbelievable" from the group nearest to her, and felt a little sick to her stomach. Most of the complaining came from clusters of girls, some still in their school uniforms, who wore terrible expressions.

"Make your move, Raptor!" Kaiba snarled.

"I play Polymerization! From Kaitoptera and Gilasaurus come Horned Saurus, in attack mode." Khepri noticed Kaiba grimaced, as though he knew was coming. "And because of my monster's special ability, on the turn it was summoned, it can attack your life points directly! So we can leave your Vorse Raider for next turn, Kaiba… Horned Saurus, attack his life points directly!" The grey-green dragon reared its head and shot a beam from its mouth at Kaiba. It hit him directly, and Khepri gasped despite herself. There was an explosion, and as the cloud of smoke disappeared, Khepri saw Kaiba standing tall, coughing slightly, but looking more determined than before to destroy his opponent. The numbers on the side of his podium fell to two thousand, and Khepri deduced that these must be the Life Points that Rex was talking about.

"Man, he's already through half his life points!" Khepri heard from the throng of people nearest to her. "If he reaches zero, he's done for!"

"Oh no," Khepri whispered. "Kaiba!"

"Personally, I hope he loses… It's about time!" Another voice added, with nods and murmurs of assent through the group.

Khepri bit her lip, and scanned the crowd. An eerie feeling took hold of her body, as her palms began to sweat and a cool shiver swept over her. And then she saw them: Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea and Ryou Bakura, the curious white-haired English boy. They were all watching the duel intently, and Khepri again felt the sharp stab of loneliness that had driven her to sit with Kaiba at lunch in the first place.

"Don't get too cocky, Raptor," Kaiba said coolly. "If lucky hits won duels, Joey Wheeler would be world champion, not his little friend." Khepri turned her attention away the group just as Joey began hurling loud insults at Kaiba, all the while Tristan and Tea held him back away from the rail. Kaiba's smirk told Khepri and the stadium that he did indeed hear Joey's epithets, but couldn't be bothered to acknowledge them, and she had to giggle at the ridiculousness of it all.

"Whatever you say, Kaiba," Rex Raptor grumbled, "I end my turn."

"Good. Now get ready to lose!"


	16. Chapter 16: Ashes to Ashes, We All Fall

Chapter Fifteen:

Kaiba smirked, and played a monster on the field, and flipped over the facedown card he had placed the turn before. "I summon Lord of Dragon," he announced grandly as a cloaked man appeared on the field, "and activate my facedown card, Flute of Summoning Dragon. I'm sure you know what that means," he added snidely.

"No!" Rex Raptor cried.

"Yes! Lord of Dragon, call forth my Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

And then the beautiful dragon that Kaiba had shown Khepri appeared on the field. She let loose a roar that shook the whole stadium, and there were a few cheers from the crowd. Khepri exhaled in awe at the pale dragon that was nearly eye level with her. She couldn't believe the dragon was just a hologram, and longed to touch her, to see if she was as cool and smooth as her skin suggested.

Khepri looked away just in time to see Kaiba watching her, a genuine smile playing about his lips. As soon as their eyes met, he fixed his gaze on his opponent in front of him, and smirked. "Now, Blue Eyes," he commanded, pointing at the suddenly insignificant little dragon before them, "destroy that thing! White Lightning Attack!"

With one great blast, the Horned Saurus shattered into thousands of tiny fragments that twinkled for a moment before disappearing. One thousand Life Points deducted themselves from Rex Raptor's counter.

"Now, Vorse Raider and Lord of Dragon, attack him directly!"

"No!" Rex Raptor wailed, as his Life Points dwindled to zero. A cheer set up around the stadium as everyone applauded, and the more ardent Kaiba fans, the girls included, cried out his name. Kaiba smirked as he basked in the glow of victory, and began gathering his deck together.

Khepri felt both vaguely exhilarated and disappointed at the same time. It was been exciting to see the duel, her first duel, and yet she felt sure it should have lasted a bit longer. Such a big deal couldn't be made out of such a short game, could it?

She turned her attention away from the floor and back to her semi-friends, and noticed that while the boys and Tea were still standing by the rail, Ryou was gone. Her eyes narrowed as she spied him hurrying through the crowd, pushing people out of the way. Khepri didn't think, but instead bolted after him.

She was in the large hallway now, and she slowed to a sort of springing walk as she followed Bakura, averting her face as he turned once or twice. If he suspected she was following him, he didn't let on and instead rushed through a side door. Khepri came up on the door just as it was closing, giving her a brief glimpse of an alley outside.

Khepri slid out the exit door into the alley behind Bakura, marveling at her own stealth. Bakura was panting loudly now, Khepri hearing him even from the distance she was away. She ducked behind a dumpster, watching Bakura's shadow on the brick wall. The orange glow of the street lamp cast a dingy pall over everything, as though she was seeing the world through jaundiced eyes.

Bakura sank to his knees and moaned, the sound of it causing Khepri's stomach to turn nervously. "No," he begged in a horrified voice, "No, spirit, _please_."

The last syllable had hardly reached Khepri's ears before a sinister laugh followed them. Involuntary shivers swept over Khepri's skin: she instinctively moved closer behind the dumpster. Bakura's shadow stood up, flexing. His laugh faded, but the voice that replaced it was much darker and void of the pleasant English lilt that suited the pale boy so well.

"You thought me dead, boy?" Bakura said in a booming voice, a dark chuckle welling up behind the words. "You thought me gone and the Ring just a piece of gold now?" He paused, and laughed again.

"Oh, poor Ryou... You would have been far better to cast it away, but you couldn't. All the better for me," he crowed. "You would have been better to never come to Domino again!" Another pause; Khepri furrowed her brow. Was it possible the ring he had mentioned was the _Sennen_ Ring? And if it was the Sennen Ring, was it too inhabited by a spirit?

"Enough protests, Ryou," Bakura said suddenly. "There's a reason I'm back, and it benefits you to let me handle it. The Kamenwati know they need someone with experience with Dark creatures to handle Apophis, and who better than I? When the world comes crashing down, your sorry skin will be safe... The book is here, I can sense it. Yes, I know it." Khepri's blood might have turned to ice. _Bakura_ was in league with the Kamenwati now?

"You cannot be trusted with control," Bakura said silkily. "No, I will overshadow you until this deal is done. If we get the Book, then there is promise of my own body. So you see, in the end, it works out for the both of us. But you can't stay close to your new friends... that damned Pharaoh is still here and he could sense me." Bakura's voice lowered conspiratorially, pondering. "No, I think you should talk to the Ehime girl. She's suspicious... looks like just a dumb blond, but I think that her timing is odd. Get close to her, we'll find out if she's just as stupid as she looks or if she's involved."

Khepri literally felt sick to her stomach by now. He knew, _Bakura knew._ The blood had drained from her face. She hardly noticed as he walked out of the alley, down the street. She had to leave Domino. She couldn't stay. The book was no longer safe. Kaiba's blue eyes flashed in her mind for a split second, and she shook her head to clear it.

She was in a daze as she stood up and walked back into the arcade. Suddenly she had more important things to worry about. Khepri turned on her heel and strode through the crowd purposefully. The clap of thunder that had only threatened rain now was delivering on a promise: sheets of water rained down on the street. Khepri didn't even hesitate, pushing open the door and bracing herself for the chill.

Khepri ran. She was never an athlete, but she ran now, down the street, kicking up water and tearing through puddles. She had to get home and leave, get out of this wretched town. Street by street, not even sure she knew how to get where she was going, and yet she managed to find their street.

It was the smoke that stopped her in her tracks. It billowed forth from the right side of the street, black and thick despite the rain still pouring down. Khepri turned down the lane and walked down, the mile sprint catching up to her. The smoke was awfully close to their house, Khepri noticed, perhaps even next door. But even when she opened their gate, staring up at the fire that consumed their home, she tried to believe it was only the neighbors' house.

A window shattered on the second floor. Khepri thought with a pang, _that's my room, though_. Flames leaped out the window, licking at the sides of the structure. Far away in the distance, she heard sirens, wailing and screeching as they surely barreled down the street. She stepped closer to the house, her skin heating up the closer she got. Someone called for Kaede from near her, but she walked slowly forward toward the burning door. She reached her hand out, meaning to grab the handle as she climbed the steps to the door.

"NO!" Arms wrapped around her, pulling her back away from the fire. The door fell off its hinges then, and revealed the bright burning heart of the house. Khepri couldn't deny it any longer then, and turned around in Seto Kaiba's soaking wet arms and sobbed.

* * *

KbN: Here's everything to date! Y'all have been so patient, so I've posted 13-15 at once, and of course, there's a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up (a good portion of this was written tonight!), so I do ask you to please be patient again if I don't post for awhile. I hope you enjoy, please offer any comments, critiques, criticisms and even flames in the form of a review... Thank you!


	17. Chapter 17: Midnight in White Light

Despite the tiredness in her very bones, Khepri tossed and turned. Her eyes refused stay closed and when she could keep them shut for more than a minute, images of fiery buildings burned under her eyelids.

Awan's face always followed them.

She couldn't think about him now. Death was something entirely foreign to Khepri. The idea that she would never again see Awan's face, hear his laughter, was entirely insurmountable to her right now.

Instead she slid from the comfortable bed. Her bare feet sank into the plush carpet, and she padded over to the door. It swung open silently as she turned and pulled on the handle, and Khepri slipped out into the hallway. She nearly turned around and went back into her room as her feet touched the cold hardwood of the hallway. But the room's silence seemed made her feel unwelcome. An intruder. Khepri pulled the door closed behind her.

She had no real direction as she wandered the halls of Kaiba Manor. The halls were paneled with dark wood, and she half expected to see suits of armor every time she turned a corner. As she passed the windows, she watched the moon slowly rise higher and higher. She might have walked for hours before finally she grew tired. Khepri turned down what she thought might be her hallway, then paused.

There was a distinct low moan that seemed to seep from the walls. Khepri clenched her fists, suddenly nervous. The noise seemed to come from behind the door just ahead on her left. She didn't think further, but crept toward the door and opened it as quietly as she could.

It was a plain bedroom: all the furniture was black, from the bed frame to the dresser. It contrasted sharply with the white of the walls and carpet, which were made even brighter by the moonlight spilling through the open curtains.

In the center of the bed lay a figure wrapped in twisted sheets. It was Kaiba. Khepri tiptoed further into the room as Kaiba tossed over, this time onto his stomach.

_What bad dreams would Seto Kaiba be having?_ Khepri wondered. The moonlight, or perhaps sleep, had evened out his features, causing him to look his seventeen years. He groaned again, low and almost painfully. On impulse, Khepri went to the bed and sat on the edge, reaching out to touch his hair.

At the slight pressure of Khepri's weight on the bed, Kaiba jerked awake, panting. He sat up and looked at Khepri, who jerked her hand back quickly. His forehead was slick with perspiration, his eyes wild.

"_What _the _hell_?" he growled.

"I heard you from outside," Khepri whispered, feeling incredibly embarrassed. What had she been thinking? "I didn't think..."

She trailed off and Kaiba simply stared at her for a long minute before sighing and laying back down.

"Are you okay?" he asked, actually sounding concerned.

"What were you dreaming about?" Khepri asked, ignoring his question. The answer to his question should have been obvious.

"Nothing," Kaiba snapped. "Why are you out at this hour?"

"Why were you moaning in your sleep?" Khepri countered, feeling her temper stir in her heart.

He sat up again, looking her dead on. His face seemed incredibly pale in the white light and grey shadows of the room.

And then he kissed her. Gently at first, a brush of lip against lip and then deeper, a genuine kiss. He was such a cold-hearted man, and yet his skin burned as he moved closer to her. She was so cold, so empty, and yet she was engulfed in flames as they kissed. Slowly, the tips of their fingers met, softly pressing against the other's hand, then interlacing.

It might have lasted until the sun rose or only a second. The kiss was broken, but their lips remained a breath away from each other.

"I'm sorry," Khepri whispered, her eyes closed. She longed to run away, but she couldn't move. His touch had sealed her in her skin, paralyzed.

"What?"

"I can't. We can't. This can't," Khepri breathed.

"Kaede."

"It's Khepri!" Khepri cried out suddenly. The spell was broken, and she drew away. Kaiba didn't stop her, as their hands were unlaced. Khepri stood up, wrapping her arms about her.

"What?" There was an edge in his voice now. He couldn't recognize her name, he couldn't.

"It's a cover," Khepri whispered, the words spilling out before she could stop them. "It's all a cover, Kaede. I'm not her, she's just another name, someone else we invented so that I would assimilate. It was Ah-" On Awan's name, she choked, and crumpled to the ground. Her one true friend in Domino, the one soul who knew everything, or at least more than anyone else did. Her second father. The man who had made her favorite lunches better than her own family. He was dead.

Terrible sobs racked her body, silent, but tidal waves that broke within her as she accepted death for the first time in her life as something to be feared. Elders had died in the clan, but it was a rite of passage. They were the Ancients, it was their time. There were tears, but there had never been this terrifying passion of grief with their deaths. This grief was wordless, soundless, it was so shocking.

And for the second time that day, she found herself sobbing in Seto Kaiba's arms, being lifted as though she weighed nothing, and tucked into his bed as gently as any child. He lay beside her, fitting himself so easily against her body.

For a long time, they simply lay as Khepri's sobs slowly ceased, the great shudders that swept through her body coming fewer and fewer. When they woke in the morning, hours later, they were still fitted together, puzzle pieces that inexplicably fit, despite the pictures on them not matching at all


End file.
